Inside the New York Yankees clubhouse with MLB.com beat writer Bryan Hoch.

Hal Steinbrenner sits down with MLB.com

While Hank Steinbrenner was spurring the Yankees on to their biggest offensive showing of the season, delivering the wake-up equivalent of a Starbucks doubleshot espresso, Hal Steinbrenner was calmly and coolly sitting down with MLB.com in Tampa.

Here’s a snippet concerning pricing at the new Stadium, where they’ll be 53,000 seats pointed toward the action in 2009:

“I see in the papers all the time about the 180 Legends Seats that are
so expensive,” he said. “But they don’t talk about the fact that half
of the seats in the stadium are $45 or less; that the entire top level
is $20-$25 seats, and the bleacher seats are $12. We wanted to make
sure that the average family can afford to go there and that’s the way
it’s going to be.”

Also, Hal says that the Yankees’ baseball engine has not been a money-maker in recent years. That’s believable, since the club has been subject to large revenue sharing spillage, but the organization’s other ventures like the YES Network have been quite lucrative.

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21 Comments

Ichiro would hit 25 homeruns as a Yankee. I have heard many stories about his ability to smoke pitches during batting practice. I guess he consistently puts balls DEEP into the seats at Safeco I’ve also heard speculation that he would easily be able to convert himself into a power hitter as his career winds down.

I just don’t want to lose Cano. I think is he’s going to be great. Granted, I want to kick him in the shin right now, but he has brought his average up to .250. I think he’ll have a look at .300 again this season if he can stay warm.

While we would lose a bit of power in Abreu and Cano, how could you not want a guy like Suzuki? Bedard would basically be an upgrade from Kennedy at this point; would allow us to drop Pontoon boat when Wang and Hughes are healthy again.

The financials might make this trade problematic (with Abreu’s salary as you mentioned) but other than that it might be win-win!

Ichiro instantly becomes the leadoff guy we haven’t had for awhile. This probably helps on down the line too as Jete and #3 see better pitches. The only problem is, who do we replace Cano with? Not that I’m saying he’s unreplaceable, just who?

I like Bobby, he seems to be at least a pro, he does his job, you don’t hear about all sorts of off-field issues… etc. I know he’s on the decline, at least from a historical perspective but I think he has more in his tank than Godzilla, and maybe even Damon. Since we’re likely to have to replace those two in the near future as well, my concern starts to drift towards their possible replacements too as I see Abreu as our best OF option at this point.

While I don’t want to say Hal is lying… I would say; show me the books! We NEVER get to see the books…

I have a hard time believing that having made NO profit in 10 years the brass would just sign a guy to the biggest contract in history! Maybe it’s the “ROI we expect” or something but I’m just having a hard time believing this team made no money whatsoever and have been kept afloat by personal coffers. If that’s the case, then this team is in much bigger trouble than trying to keep a playoff streak alive. Sure we dump about half the 200 Million this year, but who in their right mind believes this team won’t have a 150 million + payroll within a year from writing off what we dump this year?

I know the luxury tax is heavy… but until I see the accounting I’m just not buying it as I haven’t from owners for many years. People in their position aren’t THAT stupid. Why would you break the family fortune for a business like Baseball that can be ‘so hard to turn a profit on’, when you can easily make gobs of cash on investments with low to medium risk and ROI’s in the 10-20% or even slightly higher range? It doesn’t make sense… and when they keep protecting the books like the Bush family protects that Bean recipe (along with the dog too); I’m still not willing to buy-in.

If they weren’t making money, then I don’t see why it’d be such a to-do to show us the books and prove it.

Sorry, but this subject gets my ire up. MLB is the ONLY business that has the AntiTrust Exemption. Why does football not deserve it or any other sport… or any other business?

When should we start taking the Rays for real? I thought they would be slowing down by now, but they are getting stronger, it’s crazy, I can’t figure them out. I knew the Yanks would be able to explode off the Rangers’ pitching sooner or later. My Rangers friends were giving me hell on Monday and Tuesday, but I dished it right back last night. Revenge is sweet. What is Matsui’s status? No surgery right?

You don’t have to make excuses Chaz. There’s no reason anyone can’t be critical of their team. Pertinere all the time I feel the same way too… this club touts excellence and all that, but lately hasn’t displayed it… anyone worth their salt would question that too.

Andy will do fine, Roger’s the one with things to worry about… and has passed go and is free to collect his two-hundred…

Let’s see if Mr. Lester returns this offense back into the doldrums… I’d much rather see us tee off on him. If the RAYS can do it, we can too.

I wanted to make something VERY clear to anyone who didn’t know. I LOVE THE YANKEES. I criticize, I whine, I complain, all because I am passionate about this team. So call it tough love, or whatever. But I DEMAND excellence from this ball club.

Back in time

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